Loss of Innocence

I’m getting real tired of all this talk about innocence, ugh. Anyway, once again on a screen near you, Harry F’n Potter! Alright, now, back on topic, loss of innocence. What I want to address this time is how this stereotypically “bad” occurrence can have effects that are not totally adverse. Usually, a “loss of innocence” connotates the lost of some type of purity or ignorance that allowed for a more idealistic, I guess, view of the world. But, in actuality, a “loss of innocence” is an integral part of human growth. Children are encouraged to have dreams, although for most it’s impossible, (cynical, I know)but as they grow up are told to be more “realistic.” There comes a point where you realize the world isn’t some big fairytale where everyone is gonna live happily ever after.

I felt that this feeling, this slow acceptance of reality, is what the monster feels as it beholds Victor’s dead body in chapter 24. The monster reaches an epiphany of sorts and discovers that his life never held any real meaning. He talks about how he had hopes of acceptance but over time, through the cruel treatment of humans and inability to live as he pleases(“Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame, and of enjoyment. Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings who...would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of unfolding” Shelley 211), turns to more nefarious goals. He lived to deprive Victor of all that he yearned for and with Victor’s death he realizes the useless futility of those actions. Frankenstein’s death forces the monster to realize the emptiness in his own life by building a facade, using vengeance to conceal his own problems. Similar to what I was saying earlier, after Victor’s passing he disposes of his innocent delusions of the kindness of humanity and resigns himself to his lot in life. He comes to terms with the fact that he is unwanted and will never belong, in any sense of the word, and goes off to kill himself. I find this a sad ending to a remarkably noble creature, despite his mistakes and foibles.